No funding to combat road safety worries near Laois school and crèche

Two Laois councillors have requested that something be done about speeding in Killasmesstia

Published 13th Sep 2026, 11:00 BST File photo. Two Laois councillors have requested that something be done about speeding in Killasmesstia Residents of a Laois village are worried about road safety at a local school and crèche.

Two local councillors joined together to raise the concerns about traffic in Killasmeestia at the Borris-in-Ossory / Mountmellick MD meeting after being contacted by a group of locals.

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Cllr Conor Bergin and Cllr John King requested Laois County Council to assess the road safety concerns in Killasmeestia village and examine the provision of appropriate traffic-calming measures to improve safety for residents, school children and all road users.

The councillors asked the Council to consider including speed ramps at the approaches to the village.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Bergin said: “Myself and Cllr King were contacted by a group of residents living in the village about their concerns regarding speed. In the village you have a very busy crèche and school. There’s 145 children in the school and probably nearly as many in the crèche. There’s a couple of houses that have gone up in recent years there and young families living there.

“These are all local roads, there are no main roads. The village meets at the intersection of three or four local roads. There’s no traffic calming measures there at the moment. A survey needs to be carried out. That will inform any measures that would be installed.”

Lucky lotto jackpot winner in big Laois parish draw Cllr King agreed that during school drop off hours, it is a “crazy time” for traffic in the village. He urged that an engineer from the Council visit the area to assess the site.

Both councillors said they would contribute discretionary funding in so far as possible.

The MD Office said the provision of a comprehensive road safety assessment and the provision of traffic-calming measures in Killasmeestia village is currently not possible within the existing MD budget.

The MD Office added that Killasmeestia is located within a designated CLÁR area, so is eligible for small-scale rural infrastructure grants.

The village will be included for a funding application under the 2027 CLÁR funding cycle. The MD Office will also liaise with the Roads Department to prepare a traffic calming design for the application.